


Never to Rule Over Him

by haraya



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Because we all know what happens at Adamant, F/M, Some Humor, also angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-05-06 00:37:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5396198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haraya/pseuds/haraya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mages are trouble. Hawke knows this.</p>
<p>And women are heaps of trouble, and oh, does Hawke know this.</p>
<p>So of course, the Maker would find it amusing to fill Hawke’s life with as many female mages as possible. And Hawke goes along with their decisions, until he doesn’t.</p>
<p>Or, five times Hawke lets a mage decide, and one time that he doesn’t.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never to Rule Over Him

-One-

  
  
" _Garrett_ ," Leandra says, and Garrett is a brave man of twenty-three years, fierce in battle, but he quails under Leandra Hawke's gaze.   
  
"Er."  
  
"Garrett. _Explain._ "  
  
It is Carver who does, and Leandra sighs as she regards the mabari, who is looking up at her pleadingly, if a dog can be described as pleading. (This one can.)  
  
She sighs. "Garrett, we can't keep him."  
  
"But _Motheeerr_..." Garrett whines, and his newly-imprinted mabari, in a show of solidarity, whines plaintively with its newfound master.   
  
"Garrett, what in the world are we going to do with a _warhound?_ "  
  
He doesn't have a ready answer to that, so instead he mutters, " _Father_ would've wanted to keep him."  
  
"Don't you play that card with _me_ , young man," Leandra retorts, and he flinches.   
  
At that moment Bethany returns from the Lothering Chantry, and she squeals delightedly when she sees the dog.   
  
"It's a mabari!" she squeals. "Are we keeping him? Please say we're keeping him!"  
  
An idea sparks in Garrett's mind, and he puts on his best dejected expression. _No one_ can say no to Bethany.   
  
"I don't know," he tells his sister. "Mother doesn't want to." He clears his throat and looks pointedly at the mabari, whose pleased expression at seeing Bethany immediately morphs into a mournful one, complete with a pitiful whine.   
  
"Oh, but Mother, _please?_ " Bethany says, kneeling on the floor and clutching the dog's fur. Evidently the two pairs of pleading amber eyes - Malcolm's eyes, Maker bless his soul - and the warhound's puppy-dog expression are too much even for Leandra Amell-Hawke, and she sighs in defeat.   
  
"He's _your_ responsibility, Garrett."  
  
Garrett grins victoriously, and looks over to his new dog, who was currently enjoying being cuddled by Bethany.   
  
"Right. You'll need a name."  
  
Without missing a beat, Bethany replies: "Schmooples."  
  
"I-- what?" Garrett says.   
  
"Schmooples," Bethany repeats. "One of the sisters at the Chantry was telling me about an old lapdog she had. Its name was Schmooples."  
  
"Yes, but," Garrett scrambles around for his wits. "You want to name a warhound _Schmooples_?"  
  
"It had a ferocious bite, she said."  
  
"But... _Schmooples?_ "  
  
Bethany looks up at her brother meaningfully, and Garrett groans when he hears his mother and Carver laugh at the irony.   
  
_No one can say no to Bethany._  
  
\---  
  
-Two-

  
  
When he first sees her in Ostagar, Garrett feels like he's gone back in time.   
  
Solona Amell is the perfect picture of a younger Leandra. She has his mother's summer-sky blue eyes - the Amell eyes, his father told him once, and she even ties back her hair in the same low ponytail.   
  
Her spirit, however, would make Malcolm Hawke proud. She goes around the fortress with lightning at her fingertips and a staff slung proudly on her back, barely even sparing a glance at the dozens of templars milling about. She is absolutely delighted at meeting someone she could call family; he supposes living locked up in a Tower does that to a person. She drags him around everywhere while she asks questions of absolutely everyone, even the thin little prisoner asking for a bit of lunch.   
  
He regrets that bit, later, after they - or more accurately he, under Solona's orders, steals a bit of food for him, when said prisoner tells them just where the key to the chest had been.   
  
"Cousin," Solona says, looking pointedly at him and then back at the cage. He cringes.   
  
"But--"  
  
But Solona turns her Maker-damned bluer-than-blue eyes at him, so he takes out a scrap of cloth from his pocket and tries not think too much about the smell.   
  
\---  
  
-Three-

  
  
"You'll help me get the arulin'holm, won't you, Hawke?"   
  
Merrill smiles sweetly up at him, green eyes bright and expectant. Hawke agrees, of course, because Merrill is a sweet girl (and, if he’s being honest, reminds him a little of Bethany, and he could _never_ say no to Bethany). How hard could this be?  
  
The varterral answers that question, and Hawke wonders why he's even still friends with any mages - or any women, for that matter. And Hawke swears, to the Maker or Andraste or anyone listening, that the next time a female mage even so much as looks at him, he's running for the Anderfels straightaway, no questions asked.    
  
\---  
  
-Four-

  
  
And of course, _of course_ , Lady Inquisitor Trevelyan is a mage.   
  
He can't very well say no to helping the Inquisition, what with demons running rampant all over Thedas, and anyway, the view could be a lot worse, he'll grant her that.   
  
Evelyn Trevelyan is a whirlwind, on and off the battlefield, and he finds himself drawn to her more and more. He wonders if this is what flies feel like when they're trapped in the spider's web.   
  
He's not going to _do_ anything, of course, not even when she and Varric drag him all across Crestwood and back, but _Maker,_ does that woman look damn fine in tight armor. He approaches her in Skyhold some time after retrieving Alistair, intending to just talk, keep her updated, maybe invite her for drinks at most, because she's a _mage_ , and a _woman_ , and Garrett doesn't have a good track record with either.   
  
But then they're left alone on the battlements, and from there it’s all _So Varric said--_ and _That Bastard!_ and _But is it_ true, _Hawke?_ , and there’s a lot of flustered, blushing denial on his part, until finally Evelyn just makes a disgruntled noise and says, "Oh, for _fuck's_ sake, just _kiss_ me already."  
  
So he does. Garrett has never been very good at saying no, especially not with women as beautiful as her.   
  
\---  
  
-Five-

  
  
Adamant is important, of course, but the Empress's ball is in a week and a half, so they're dealing with that first. The Wardens' activities bother him, and he wants to get it over with as soon as possible, but Evelyn's the one in charge and what she says, goes.   
  
He's so preoccupied with reports from the Approach that he doesn't notice the coming storm wearing impractically revealing mage robes until it's too late.   
  
Madame de Fer manages to bully him into some kind of red formal jacket despite his _very_ vehement protests, and before he knows it, he's being shipped off to Halamshiral in a carriage, squeezed in tight between Varric and Cassandra.   
  
_Could be worse_ , he thinks, especially when he catches sight of Evelyn across the ballroom, looking absolutely breathtaking in a red and gold dress.   
  
She's here and there and everywhere for most of the night, but when most of the commotion has settled down he manages to corner her in the vestibule and he hasn't got enough willpower to keep his hands off her.   
  
"I _do_ have a key to the Royal Apartments, you know," she says huskily. "I'm sure we can find at least one room without a dead body."  
  
He laughs out loud as she leads him away, because this beautiful, strong, amazing mage is a whirlwind of a woman, and how can he say no to her?  
  
\---  
  
-And One-

  
  
There are, apparently, very, _very_ particular situations wherein Garrett can refuse her.   
  
He had not thought that standing in the Fade while facing down a giant Nightmare demon (that looks like a _spider_ , Maker help him) would be that situation, but well, there it is.   
  
Alistair looks grim and nothing at all like the lighthearted Warden he met in the middle of a Qunari invasion, but what worries him more is that Evelyn looks delirious with exhaustion, and she's not going to make it out of here if she keeps dithering over the obvious choice.  
  
So he makes it for her.   
  
He pulls her to him quickly, sealing his lips over hers. She's surprised enough not to struggle, and that gives him the advantage when he pushes her into Alistair's waiting arms.   
  
"Take her and go," he orders Alistair, readying his sword.  
  
Evelyn says, "No."   
  
For the first and last time in his life, Garrett chooses to ignore this.   
  
She's stricken. He can't bear to look at her, can't stand to see the precise moment he breaks her heart, so instead he fixes his gaze on Alistair instead. "My cousin will kill me if you don't make it out of here," he says, smiling sadly.   
  
And then: "Garrett, please." Evelyn's eyes are wide and pleading but she's too weakened to fight against Alistair now. He smiles sadly at her.   
  
"Sorry, Evelyn."  
  
And thank the Maker, Alistair has the sense to start dragging her away. He lifts her bodily, gripping her firmly around the waist as he makes a mad dash for the rift. Evelyn is struggles and flails, her limbs jerking this way and that like a cheap puppet show. Garrett smiles a little at that, but even as he hacks away at the demon he can still hear her pained cries over the din.   
  
_"Garrett!"_  
  
The nightmare taunts and teases him, says he's going to die, but what hurts the most in this moment is Evelyn's hysterical "Garrett! Don't do this, _please!_ "  
  
But then Alistair and Evelyn are through the rift, and then they're gone. Garrett sighs in relief even as his arms go numb from exhaustion and his head goes light from blood loss, because his personal worst nightmare -not being able to save the woman he loves- has been averted, and right now he can't care about anything else.   
  
Because Garrett is a brave man, fierce in battle, in love with the most amazing woman (mage or otherwise) that he has ever had the honor of meeting, and suffice it to say that he's more than a little proud at finally, _finally_ learning to say no. 

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick little something I wrote, because Hawke is daaaaamn fine in the Destiny trailer.


End file.
